Leftover Food from Work

Question

After a catered in-office lunch, I bundled a few of the leftover sandwiches into a napkin to bring home to my kids. On my way out of the meeting room, I ran into a coworker who gave me a dirty look when he saw my stash. It wasn't as if I took all of the remaining sandwiches. Did I do wrong?

Answer

The short answer? You goofed. Unless you got permission from the department head who paid for the catering, helping yourself to leftover food isn't really much different than snagging office supplies for home use or making personal long-distance calls from your desk. Next time, asking "What should we do with the leftovers?" may open the door for your boss to suggest leaving them in a common area for all to enjoy. In that case, there's nothing wrong with helping yourself  just be sure to leave enough for your coworkers as well. But only if sandwiches still remain unclaimed at day's end is okay to take a few home to your family.

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